Bicycle parking racks come in a variety of different configurations and styles to provide locations where bicycles can be parked, such as outside buildings, and to provide a location where bicycles can be secured, such as with some form of locking device. Such bicycle parking racks or stands are typically formed of a rigid material, typically steel. This allows the bicycle to be kept safe from theft and provides the parking stand with sufficient ruggedness to avoid damage from bicycles, foot traffic and other general wear and tear and from weathering effects.
Rigid bicycle parking racks do have some drawbacks. The rigid rack can damage the bicycle when the bicycle is brought into close proximity with the rigid elements of the bicycle parking rack to lock the frame of the bicycle to the rack. Also, pedestrians will occasionally accidentally walk into a bicycle parking rack and the rigidity of the bicycle parking rack will contribute to injuries to the pedestrian.
Another problem with bicycle parking stand rigidity is that often with a wide variety of bicycle styles and lock styles, it is difficult to couple the bicycles to the parking stand through the lock. The rigidity of the parking stand and the rigidity of the bicycle frame requires that the bicycle and the parking stand be aligned precisely together or that the lock have appropriate adaptability to accommodate the distance and orientation between the bicycle and parking stand. While such a locking procedure can typically be accommodated when only one bicycle is on a parking stand, this is not nearly as easy when multiple bicycles are already locked up to the bicycle parking rack.
If the bicycle parking rack had some degree of flexibility itself, the variety of bicycle frame sizes and shapes would be more easily accommodated in an optimal fashion for locking. Furthermore, the rigidity of bicycle parking stands makes them incompatible with rights of way which are required to be maintained for emergency vehicle traffic, such as fire lanes. If a bicycle parking rack were sufficiently flexible to allow it to flex when driven over by emergency vehicle traffic, an opportunity is presented for utilizing bicycle parking stand locations for vehicle traffic in an emergency situation.